


What Would You Do?

by The_Magic_Lava_Lamp



Series: What Would You Do? [1]
Category: The Monkees (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-20
Updated: 2018-09-20
Packaged: 2019-07-14 22:06:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16049516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Magic_Lava_Lamp/pseuds/The_Magic_Lava_Lamp
Summary: In which a crummy acting job leads Micky to finding Mike.Without my sister ( @ take-a-giant-step on Tumblr)  this story wouldn't exist cause she basically gave me all the ideas and came up with the whole basis and idea!!!





	1. What Would You Do?

Micky had his foot in the door to being a real actor! Or at least, that's what he was promised when he booked the job. Davy had gone on and on about how great it'd be for their blooming careers.

And that is how Micky ended up playing, 'Jason / Teen coming out of the closet' (to quote his script) in 'What Would You Do?'. 'A hidden camera show created to observe how ordinary people behave when they are confronted with dilemmas that require them either to take action or to walk by and mind their own business- blah, blah, blah'.

Micky recited the show description in his head as he sat down at a table in the tiny diner.

His job was simple, pretend to come out to his swim team ('Richie', 'Tyler' & 'Mark' who were actually Davy, Joey & Matt) who will proceed to react badly. Micky hoped something interesting was going to happen because this was how he was going to be spending his entire afternoon.

He played with the edge of the checkered tablecloth as his 'teammates' sat down around him. He tried not to pick at the small earpiece in his ear as they kicked into their first performance of the day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Peter reached his hand over and stole a few fries from Mike's plate, the Texan just let him at it. He knew well enough that could use all the food he could get, being a starving college student just the same as he was.

As Peter shook the tiny shaker of pepper onto a single fry and shoved it into his mouth, Mike laid his chin on his palm and did a quick scan of the tiny diner.

"People watching, Mike?" Peter chuckled and Mike rolled his eyes with a small smile.

It had been a mostly boring day and why not have a boring lunch with Peter to go with it? Mike chuckled to himself as Peter continued to season his fries one at a time.

Mike's attention was easily swayed to a few tables over, in his attempt to find something more interesting to listen to then Peter's chewing.

"So what I've been trying to tell you guys is that..." The man, that Mike assumed was around his age, took in a breath as he faced the people around him. "Well, I'm gay." 

Mike sat up a little straighter. His stomach stirred with the memories of when he had been in the same situation.

"You're gay?" One of his friends laughed spitefully and Mike nearly growled. 

"Jason that's ridiculous. Funny joke, man. Really got us." Another laughed but the guy looked put out. His pug nose twitched.

"It's not a joke, Tyler. I'm telling you because you guys are my friends-" 

"You're serious? Look, we can't hang out with a gay guy." The Tyler guy held up his hands, looking to his friends for confirmation, who nodded. "You're gonna get kicked off the team, y'know?"

"Yeah, I don't want you looking at me in the locker room." His other friend looked absolutely disgusted at the thought. 

Jason's face fell with what Mike recognized as shock. "It's not- I wouldn't do-" His voice was reduced to sad whine.

"You need a girl, I could get you a girl." The shortest friend pointed, his accent seeming to enhance his statement.

Mike was fuming. And it didn't take Peter long to realize it. Peter had been watching the situation too, it was sort of hard not to. And he couldn't believe there were still people out there with such an outdated frame of mind.

He wanted to say something but he wasn't the type to insert himself, it would only get violent. But Mike was gripping his side of the table because unlike Peter, he didn't care about that. Peter reached over and set his hand on top of his. Mike snapped his head over to him.

"I know you want to but Mike, you can't go over there."

"They're assholes, Peter." Mike scowled and Peter gave him a sympathetic smile. 

"I know...but we don't want a repeat of the wall punching incident, remember?" Peter tried to lighten the mood by bringing up the funny yet topic appropriate story. Mike turned back to look at them again, the friends were laughing. 

Peter knew it was no use at this point, he'd already lost him. So he let go of Mike's hand and his friend stood, walking over to the table. Peter almost wanted to cover his eyes.

"Y'all think this is real funny, huh?" Mike stopped in front of the group, the laughter immediately stopped as the men turned to look up at him. Mike shoved his hands into his pockets.

The friends looked up at him nervously before one spoke up. "Yes, yes we do." He said so confidentially that Mike's anger was burning.

"You guys are assholes for treating him like that." Mike narrowed his eyes, milking on the fact that he already looked like an intimidating person. 

"If we're assholes for telling the truth then sure." The one with the accent shrugged and Mike opened his mouth. 

"Whatever man, were leaving." They all got up and left the table, leaving the other man, Jason, behind. Who looked incredibly hurt. 

Micky's earpiece came to life with a quiet "Start crying" from the show's host. Micky was incredibly glad that he actually knew how to cry on cue...

Mike fumbled a little when the guy started to cry, his face fell from anger to something much softer as he sat down, pulling the chair close to him. "Hey, are you ok?" He asked in a quiet voice. 

He looked up at Mike, eyes wide and wet and opened and closed his mouth. But he looked as if he wasn't sure what to say. So Mike decided to just talk...

"I'm Mike....Look, I know this feels heavy to you right now. And you're scared to lose your friends but you don't need to settle for people who are going to treat you differently for being who you are." He started, arm resting on the railings of both their chairs. 

"When you come out, it feels scary because you keep thinking 'I'm gonna lose all my friends.' But there will always be people who love you for you. And those 'friends' over there aren't worth your time. You don't need to keep them around because you're afraid to be alone." Mike suddenly clamped his mouth shut, feeling exposed and sort of afraid that he'd went on too long. 

"Thank you..." Was all the guy could manage, his face looked touched. Mike almost blushed. But he willed it away and smiled a little.

"Besides, you're too good for them." He had a sly smile on his face.

"Really?" Micky replied with an equal smirk, wavering a little from his character for a more genuine reaction.

Mike went to push a piece of wavy hair from the guy's eyes and he let him, which Mike took as a good sign. So he leaned in...

Micky momentarily forgot the situation and just leaned in too, licking his lips before-

"Hello I'm John Quiñones and this is 'What Would You Do' !" 

Mike jumped back, face red with embarrassment as some guy came out, followed by a flock of cameramen. 'Shit' he thought to himself.

Peter's mouth fell open from the table as he observed everything going down, he nearly jumped over to pull Mike away, knowing his friend well enough by now to know that he'd want out. But he remained still, frozen.

Micky's stomach dropped, feeling a little bad for shocking Mike like this. The show host pulled up a chair next to Mike and spoke into his microphone.

"You seemed very angry with the situation, why?" He held the microphone under Mike's mouth. 

Mike opened and closed his mouth, avoiding the guy's eyes and feeling Peter's burning holes in the back of his head. He thought the situation over before he decided to speak.

"Well, you see...I know how it feels to come out and what that feelslike." He gestured, nervously. "And I didn't want anyone to have to take such shit-" Mike paused, wondering if he shouldn't have said that but Jason ('If that was his real name' Mike thought to himself) giggled. 

"To take those insults from people." He corrected himself and played along with the rest of the questions before the TV show people gathered up to leave. Mike went to stand, wanting out of this situation as soon as possible but he felt a tug on his arm. 

He turned, facing that guy again. "Hey, sorry if all of this was daunting." He chuckled and Mike just shrugged and he smiled. "I'm actually Micky, by the way." He stuck out his hand and Mike shook his hand.

Mike once again went to leave but Micky started to talk again. "You were really good...I mean, what you said-" Micky trailed off with a wave of his hand and a genuine smile. He then sat down again and there was no way for Mike to back off without seeming rude so he sat down too. Peter could wait.

"We're gonna be doing this scene all afternoon-" Micky turned his head in the direction of where the crew had gone. "But I mean, nothings gonna beat that." He chuckled. 

Mike grinned a little. "I do my best."

Micky smiled again, his nose twitched too. "Listen, I'm sorry for shocking you like this-" Micky gestured again. "But I think it'd be real cool if we hung out sometime-" He reached over and held out his hand.

Mike raised his eyebrow.

"Phone, I need your phone." Micky smiled and Mike made a small 'o' with his mouth and handed it to him. He watched Micky type out his number for a few seconds. "Here you go." 

Mike took the phone back and shoved it into his pocket.

"So I guess, I'll see you." Micky shot up, earpiece letting him know that he was needed. Mike stood and nodded. Micky patted his arm and took off for where the crew had gone. Mike watched him go before turning back and causally sliding into the booth again, like nothing happened. 

Peter rubbed his hand under his chin and looked at his friend. "Mike! That was....wow, I can't believe that happened." He chuckled and Mike nodded.

"I'm trying to forget it myself." 

"Mike, you do know that's going on TV, right? I mean, you're parents don't know you're gay..." Peter remembered when Mike came out to him and told him that his parents still didn't know and he did not want to tell them. He'd tried to talk to him about it but Mike just pushed it off. 

"They had to know at some point. At least this way I don't have to tell them myself." Mike shrugged, looking a mixture of relieved and fearful. 

Peter wanted to comment on that, but refrained. "So, you seemed taken with him, huh?"

Mike groaned. "I knew you were gonna fixate on that, Pete."

Peter laughed, blowing a few strands of blonde hair from his eyes. "It was pretty obvious, Michael."

Mike looked unimpressed at best but Peter didn't really mind.

"You leaned in." He laughed again. "You loooove him." 

Mike scowled. "He's straight, Peter. It was all part of the acting thing."

Peter gave him a suspicious smirk. "I dunno, he was pretty convincing...Maybe he's actually gay-"

"Let it go, Peter." Mike held up his hand and got some fries with the other. Peter shrugged, guessing it was probably best to let it go. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Micky walked back towards the back of the diner or the 'prepping' room as the crew had put it only to find Davy with a gigantic smile on his face. Micky's face flushed.

"My oh my, Micky. Seems someone has caught your eye." Davy laughed and Micky rolled his eyes. 

"Shut-up." Micky pushed his shoulder but Davy went on. 

"You were smitten!" He teased. "It was obvious." 

Micky chuckled and paused for a minute. "Davy, I love him." He dramatically slapped his hand to his chest with a genuine blushed grin. Davy laughed and slapped his arm.

As the crew was setting up and waiting for the diner to fill with new guests, Davy and Micky sat off to the side. Davy was scrolling through Micky's phone and Micky was trying to peek.

"Did you find him-?" 

"No...he's like a ghost. No Instagram or anything. And I'm a pro at this." 

"Maybe he is a ghost...he's actually been dead for years-" 

"Shut-up, Micky" Davy pushed his shoulder and laughed, still scrolling. "Oh! I think I found that friend he was with!" Davy suddenly burst with a wide grin and Micky again attempted to lean over. 

Davy kept scrolling. "His name's Peter."

He finally handed the phone over to Micky, successfully displaying the blonde's account. "It'd be weird to follow him right now, right?"

Davy nodded and took the phone back and took out his own to put them side by side. "Not as weird for me though..."

Micky chuckled. "I gave him my number so...hopefully something happens." Micky shrugged and grinned.


	2. The Get Together

Three days later, Mike sat on the carpet of his dorm, leaning against the wood frame of his bed as he aimlessly opened and closed apps on his phone. Peter sat cross-legged on his own bed, scooping up the brown rice he'd managed to make himself when he went back home for the weekend, from his plate. And it seemed to Mike now, that Peter would be able to stretch that meal out for a solid week with all he made.

Mike opened and closed his mouth for a few seconds before locking his phone and shuffling to get Peter's attention. "Hey, Pete?"

Peter looked over at him curiously. "Yeah?"

Mike paused, not really wanting to have to ask Peter but at this point, he could really use the help. "How-Ok, well..." Mike struggled and Peter shuffled to the edge of his bed. "How long do you wait to text somebody who gave you their number...like someone you're interested in?" Mike physically deflated after he finished and Peter rubbed his sleeve over his mouth.

"I don't know." Peter shrugged and Mike rolled his eyes. "Sorry, personally, I just text people whenever I want." Peter stabbed his fork back down into his food. "Maybe a day or two?" He tried to offer Mike something. 

Mike frowned. Part of him envied how easy-going Peter was and part of him was especially glad that he wasn't like that at all. He rubbed the palm of his hand under his chin and thought to himself for a minute.

"Rice?" Peter offered, holding out his food with something of a smirk, knowing Mike would refuse. Which he did and Peter just shrugged.

Mike looked around their dorm for a minute. Peter's side almost bleeding into his own in a few spots. He swore, the smell of Peter's incense was embedded into their carpet. He scrunched up his nose. "Sometimes I wonder how I let you get away with all this.." Mike flicked the dream catcher hanging from Peter's nightstand. 

Peter laughed, setting his plate down. "I think part of you digs it, that's why." he grinned and Mike rolled his eyes once more but quickly looked down at his phone again and bit hard into his lip.

Peter glanced down at him and smirked. He shifted on the bed and started to pull his jacket on. "I'm going to my friend Stephen's party, ok?"

Mike kicked his leg as Peter went past him. "Your incense is already strong enough so don't come back drenched in the smell of weed." Mike shook his head as Peter chuckled, spinning a keychain on his finger.

Peter ruffled Mike's hair and sat at the edge of his bed. Mike frowned, not liking that Peter didn't actually acknowledge his request. He got himself off the floor and onto his bed, phone now clenched in his hand.

He fiddled with it a little longer before telling himself to get over it and just text him already as Peter fled the room. Mike flicked his screen and opened up the contact Micky had created for himself. He hovered his thumb over his name before clicking and typing out something.

'Hey Micky, I was just wondering if you'd want to hang out sometime?' 

It was terrible for sure, Mike thought. But he exited out of the app in seconds, hoping he could distract himself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Micky and Davy had been called back to film a little more for 'What Would You Do?' while the show was still around their location. They'd even offered to show Micky the ropes on directing, which had the boy bouncing in his seat.

The two of them were on break, eating lunch together and Davy was going on and one about something but Micky was focusing more on the food. He was enjoying a particularly salty fry when he heard his phone buzz. Davy stopped mid-sentence and waited.

Micky opened his phone up and a smile formed at the corner of his mouth and only grew.

"What?" Davy raised his brow at Micky's ridiculous face. 

Micky waved his phone with a flick of his wrist. "It's Mike." He bit his lip and turned his phone screen back towards himself. Though Davy was already getting up to slid in next to Micky on his side of the booth.

"I was ready to give up on 'em. S'been three days." Davy chuckled and leaned to look over Micky's shoulder, who shoved him back a bit. "What'd he say?" Davy whined. 

"He asked if I wanna hang out sometime...?" Micky looked to Davy to give him some feedback, who was taking some of Micky's fries. 

Davy hummed. "Tell him yes but you have a busy schedule...y'know, play a little hard to get." Davy grinned.

"I do have a busy schedule." Micky repeated and Davy rolled his eyes. 

"I know, you twit, just use it to your advantage." He gestured as Micky went to typing out his reply. 

'Hey Mike! I would really like that! I'm going to be pretty busy w/ filming & everything but I think we could work something out!'

"Why do you use so many exclamation points?" Davy pursed his lips from over Micky's shoulder. 

"I don't wanna seem bored." Micky furrowed his brows, now a little self-conscious. Davy shrugged as if to say 'to each his own' and Micky frowned.

"I wouldn't judge me, Davy." Micky teased. "Didn't a girl once have to tell you to stop using so many emojis?" Micky chuckled at the memory but Davy just smacked his arm. 

"Shut it." He pouted, throwing another fry into his mouth. 

Just then, Micky's phone vibrated again and both boys snapped their heads towards it. Micky grabbed for it and opened it once again.

'Cool, are you free Friday?'

Micky licked his lips, tasting the salt. "We're not filming anything on Friday, right?"

"In the afternoon, remember?" Davy replied.

So Micky started to type again. "I'm gonna suggest coffee in the morning then...Is that good?" Micky turned to Davy, a little unsure.

"Sure." Davy shrugged and watched Micky's smile grew as his phone rang with a response shortly after he'd sent his own reply. 

"Ok, I have a date Friday." Micky smiled and Davy grinned back too. "We're getting coffee." Micky set his phone down, proud of himself. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Peter re-entered his dorm room to the sound of Mike's bulky record player, he grinned a little while he listened to the song.

'She's a sexy girl, sexy girl, sexy girl  
She's a very sexy girl  
She's a sexy girl, sexy girl, sexy girl  
She's a very sexy girl'

"You know Mike, I know your sexuality now, you don't have to overcompensate with me-" Peter smirked as he gestured about, the song playing. Mike rolled his eyes. 

"I like this song." He looked back down at his phone while Peter continued to chuckle.

"I'm gonna hang out with that Micky guy on Friday." Mike spoke suddenly.

Peter smiled as he sat down. He went to speak but Mike interrupted him again before he could get too far ahead of himself.

"It's not a date though. We're just gonna hang out as friends." Mike shrugged and Peter looked as if he expected that. "It's just coffee." 

"Well, you never know what could happen..." Peter smirked and Mike glared at him. "Ok, I guess you're right. Nothing could happen with Mr. Boring there." Peter pointed at him and Mike slapped his hand down. 

"But at least you're going out, even if it isn't a date." Peter shrugged, taking his shoes off as Mike nodded. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mike strolled over towards the coffee place that Micky had suggested yesterday feeling a little...anxious. He wasn't quite sure what to expect. His first meeting with Micky had been...eventful for sure.

Adding on to it all, Mike had to lug around his guitar case with him. Considering he had to have some strings restrung and was due to pick it up from the music store very soon after this.

When he walked in, his eyes were quick to find the curly haired boy, sitting at at table and putting sugar in his coffee. And Micky glanced up to return the eye-lock with a grin.

Mike pulled out the chair and sat across from him, smiling a bit. "You sure like sweet coffee, huh?" Mike chuckled as Micky finally set aside the sugar.

"Yeah, I figure, why drink something boring?" Micky shrugged with a boyish look in his eyes and Mike just had to return it. "So Mike-" Micky dramatically dropped his eyes towards the guitar case Mike had set down. "You play guitar?" He pointed.

Mike blinked. "Nah, I just carry this around as a conversation starter." He said flatly and Micky paused for a minute before smirking back at him.

"Funny." He tilted his head with a little laugh that Mike found adorable.

"No, really." Mike continued, maintaining his flat expression. He leaned down and opened the case, revealing that it was in fact, empty. Micky narrowed his eyes with a smirk as if searching for the joke. "Are you serious?" 

Mike shook his head with a chuckle as he closed the case again. "No, I'm picking my guitar up after this."

Micky giggled with amusement.

"Once you get to know me, you'll realize you don't need conversation starters around me anyway." Micky chuckled and Mike raised his brow. 

"I've been told I talk a mile a minute." Micky clarified, sipping his drink. But his posture and the way he played with his hands told Mike that Micky was probably a little nervous around new people. 

"That's good cause you're gonna need to hold up this conversation for the both of us." Mike replied dryly but with a small smirk. 

"Really?" Micky's smirk grew

Mike shrugged. "I've been told I'm a quiet person."

"You're a funny guy, Mike." Micky sat up straighter with a little boost of confidence and Mike shrugged, almost shyly.

Micky felt a flutter in his stomach as he continued to talk to Mike, who was proving to be very interesting...and very charming. And Mike was right, he was a little quiet but Micky found it endearing.

Micky was toying with the coffee stirrer that was leaning out of his cup and started to twirl it with his finger. "-So Davy and I left the party and proceeded to get kicked out of a Denny's and then-" Micky tilted his head.

"Wait-what's this whole 'you getting kicked out of a Denny's' story'?" Mike held up his hand and looked bewildered. "You can't skip that." He leaned forward with a chuckle.

"Well-" Micky started only for his phone to vibrate and his attention switched as he glanced over to look at the message from Davy.

'Hey, you're gonna be late to filming. You didn't forget did you?'

"Shit, I have to go." Micky frowned. 

Mike definitely looked sad at that comment, Micky noticed. "But, I'd really like to do this again sometime?"

Mike nodded. "Me too."

And the two of them left with slightly different ideas of what exactly that morning had been.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"How was your date?" Davy wiggled his eyebrows to Micky during a break in filming.

Micky shrugged with a small smirk. "Pretty good." He smiled with a voice that was simply sweet.

"Will there be a second date?" Davy tapped his foot. 

"Oh yeah" Micky nodded with confidence and a smile. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"How was your get together?" Peter chuckled when he saw Mike later that day. 

Mike shrugged with an unreadable expression. "Pretty good."

Peter could tell he'd enjoyed himself, considering he walked into the dorm with a tiny grin.

"You think there'll ever be a first date?" He teased and Mike frowned. 

"He ain't gay, Peter. We're just friends." Mike shook his head and Peter could read disappointment on his face but decided not to mention it.


	3. The Bowling Alley

It was no surprise to Davy that Micky ended up reaching out to Mike for a second date first. The two of them were sat in the middle of their floor in their dorm.

Micky was scrolling through his phone with a determined look on his face while Davy kept his focus on the TV.

"What's a good, casual date?" Micky asked, seemingly frustrated with himself. Davy swallowed a handful of popcorn and looked over to his friend.

"I dunno...bowling?" Davy rolled his lips together and chuckled, having really meant that as a joke but Micky seemed to brighten at that. He should have expected that Micky would pick the kitschiest of all dates.

"Davyyyyyy?"

Davy instantly regretted opening his mouth as a wicked smirk appeared on his friends face. He shuffled on the carpet and raised his eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"Do you wanna go on a double date?" Micky grinned and poked at Davy's side, who swatted his hand away. "Come on, I think it'll loosen Mike up if he's got a friend there, he's pretty...shy."

Davy shrugged and leaned back against the seat behind him trying to look disinterested. "If I agree to this-" He started, sitting up straighter and facing Micky. "You gotta make sure the friend is Peter."

Micky smirked, expecting that. "Awww...you love him."

Davy rolled his eyes though it was pretty obvious he took an interest in the blonde. Considering he had talked non-stop about Mike's friend ever since he'd found his Instagram account.

"He still hasn't accepted my request yet.." Davy frowned, checking his phone once more.

Micky gave him a mock-pout and shrugged before looking back to his phone to his latest conversation with Mike.

'I had fun the other day! Would you mind doing it again sometime?' - Micky

'I'm cool for Tuesday? Are you free then?' - Mike

'Surprisingly yes! Nothing to film that day!' - Micky

'Cool, What do you want to do?' - Mike

Micky read through it again before Davy started to lean over his shoulder and read it too. He tried to swat him away but since it was Davy, it was no use. He started to type his reply.

'I was thinking we could go to that bowling alley-'

"No, no. Make it sound casual. Don't make it sound like you were thinking about it that much." Davy poked Micky's shoulder, who frowned.

'My friend Davy and I were thinking about going to the Bowling Alley-'

"I'd never agree to go to a bowling alley had it not been for this." Davy scrunched up his nose and Micky elbowed him.

"Will you shut it for a second?" He chuckled and Davy remained silent.

'My friend Davy and I wanted to go to the Bowling Alley and I think that could be fun! And you could bring Peter?' - Micky

Micky hit send and Davy sat back down in his spot again, watching the television with more interest than Micky for once.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mike walked down the halls from his class and waited to feel the sound of his phone buzz. He was hoping to get an answer before he met up with Peter who would undoubtedly be curious about who he was texting.

But as fate would have it, he made it to the little rec room where Peter had already ordered him a sandwich and was sitting at a table by the window.

"Thanks, Pete." Mike gave him a small smile as he sat across from him. He set his phone on the table for no more than a second while he got situated and that was when it decided to vibrate loudly.

"Who's that?" Peter asked, sipping his water.

Mike inwardly groaned. "Micky." He kept his answer short but Peter gave a small little smirk but more towards the window then directly at Mike.

"You guys gonna hang out again?" Peter asked as he shifted in his seat with genuine curiosity. Mike read over Micky's response.

'My friend Davy and I wanted to go to the Bowling Alley and I think that could be fun! And you could bring Peter?' - Micky

Mike scrunched up his nose. "He wants to go bowling with that guy Davy, says you can come too." Mike set his phone back on the table. He wasn't sure what he was expecting but it wasn't that.

"Fun." Peter smiled, obviously going to say yes. He blinked and wondered if maybe Mike was right. Maybe Micky wasn't gay and maybe he was just trying to hang out as friends. It's not as if bowling with your other friends said romance or anything.

Then a thought occurred to Peter and he went about checking his phone and laughed to himself, an action he knew Mike hated.

"What?" Mike raised his brow.

"Davy requested to follow me on Instagram like a few days ago." He turned his phone with amusement to Mike who just shrugged.

"You didn't accept?"

Peter took his turn to shrug. "I forgot. I didn't even know it was the same guy. The notification went away and I didn't want to leave the page I was on."

Mike put his chin to rest on the palm of his hand. "Which was what? Vegan recipes on Pinterest?" He chuckled and Peter shook his head with a laugh too.

"Maybe." Peter locked his phone with another chuckle and went back to eating.

Mike smiled to himself and bit into his sandwich. Little things like this made Mike realize just how grateful he was to have Peter around. And he hoped that would make this whole bowling situation better.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And so Tuesday came quicker than Mike was prepared for. He sat cross-legged on the carpet,ear buds plugged into his phone. He'd been listening to his record player but their annoying neighbor kept banging on the wall to insist it was too loud. So Mike begrudgingly switched just to shut him up.

Peter strolled in after his class, throwing his bag onto his bed and his body soon after. 'He was lucky he didn't fall off' Mike thought with a shake of his head.

"So, are you excited for today?" Peter smirked and Mike pretended like he couldn't hear him. Peter just shook his head and hopped off his bed to plop down in front of Mike with a grin.

"I requested to follow Davy back...he has not responded." Peter chuckled, not really caring if Mike actually couldn't hear him. "I think he's getting back at me." Peter smirked a little, which worried Mike.

"You're not gonna flirt with him today, Peter." He said sternly and Peter rolled his eyes with amusement.

"Why not? It's just some innocent flirting, Mike." Peter pouted and Mike played with the chord of his ear buds as he finally took them off. "You afraid it'll make you look bad in front of Micky?" He teased but Mike was not amused.

"I'm just saying don't get in over your head, Pete. You're only just meeting him today, he's a stranger." He shrugged and Peter thought back to when Mike had flirted with Micky when he was 'just a stranger' but he decided to let it go. He was never one for antagonizing a situation. He just smiled with a shake of his head.

"That neighbor complain about noise again?" Peter asked as he gestured to Mike's phone, or his least favorite way to listen to music. Mike nodded. "Can I?" Peter smiled and gestured to one of the ear buds and Mike shrugged, handing one over as he put the other one in his ear.

"Just don't play anything weird." Mike mumbled as he handed the phone over to Peter's eager hands.

Peter grinned. "Do I ever?"

Mike rolled his eyes like that was the biggest understatement in the world but didn't object as Peter started to scroll.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"This is dreadful." Davy scrunched up his nose as he stood in front of the bowling alley with Micky.

"You like bowling, and you know it." Micky bumped his elbow and Davy shook his head.

"Yeah, well maybe to pass time or with friends but a date? How kitschy is that?" He asked the rhetorical question, knowing Micky would attempt to answer it just to annoy him so he slapped his arm.

"You're very annoying, you know that?" Micky asked with a chuckle and Davy gave him a face that read 'trying not be amused'. Making Micky smile back more. "I brought you to have fun!"

"You only brought me with to get Mike all loose." Davy put on a disgusted face and Micky rolled his eyes.

"Fingers crossed it works, right?" Micky teased, crossing his fingers and Davy scoffed, strolling towards the doors as Micky trotted behind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mike kind of hated Peter now. The blonde had taken one look at Davy and immediately turned on his charm.

And Micky kind of hated Davy now. The short man was having more luck on this date than Micky was.

It wasn't as if Micky wasn't having any fun because he was. But it was as if Davy and Peter were off in their own world.

Micky leaned back on the waiting chair as Mike came back from his turn, sitting down next to him. They both looked towards Davy, who was supposed to go next. But the man did not even notice, completely engaged in what Peter was saying.

Micky leaned over and grabbed his bowling bowl from the rack and made the gesture that was about to roll it over their feet but Mike stopped him with a chuckle. He grabbed the ball from Micky, placing it back before standing at Micky's feet.

"C'mon, let's get something to eat." He tipped his chin in the direction of the counter a little ways away.

Micky grinned as he hopped up to follow. 'Mike wanted time alone with him.' He resisted the urge to stick his tongue out at Davy, who wouldn't have noticed anyway.

Mike stopped, leaning his crossed arms on the counter as he took a stool. Micky plopped down on the next one. "Places like this are always so overpriced." Mike remarked, rubbing his chin. Micky had to agree. "You want anything?"

'He's offering to pay.' Micky smiled and shook his head. "You don't have to pay. If I don't spend what I have now, I'll blow it on something stupid." Micky smiled. Mike was right, it was overpriced so he was not about to make him pay for all that.

Mike shrugged, looking away with a bit of a frown that Micky didn't notice.

As they ate, Micky was sure Mike was flirting with him. When Micky would scoot closer, so would he. And he was sure that he read somewhere in one of Davy's magazines that meant something.

Micky barely noticed that he zoned out a bit and came to blowing bubbles into his pop.

It was then that both of them noticed that 'Come And Get Your Love' had just started playing over the speakers of the bowling alley.

"Perfect song, huh?" Mike's voice came from Micky's left. He looked up and stopped himself from blushing.

"Yeah." He mumbled, hoping it wasn't too awkward, Mike had to notice he was blushing. That had been just the confirmation he needed to hear to know that Mike was into the whole 'dating' thing.

What Micky didn't know was that Mike had been looking to Peter & Davy as he'd said that. 'Perfect song, huh?' meaning it as a dig at their newly smitten friends and not what Micky thought it meant. He'd just turned his head back to Micky just as the boy looked to his left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Peter and Mike left the alley with goodbyes to Micky and Davy. Mike almost pulled Peter right behind him when he started to linger with Davy. Micky chuckled.

Micky insisted that he would text Mike again to make more plans around his crazy schedule, so Mike supposed either he had fun...or was just trying to be nice.

He surely worried more than he probably should but that was just him. Any hope that he'd buried down deep that they could ever possibly maybe start dating was fading.

Micky had shut down his offer to pay, which he knew was not a big deal but it still poked at him. Davy & Peter had been no help, too busy being stuck together like glue. And when he tried to make a joke about Davy & Peter, Micky had just mumbled a 'Yeah'.

Mike bit his lip as Peter trotted to the car they'd taken. Yeah, he was disappointing that Micky didn't seem interested in him (which he'd figured before anyway) but he would continue these hang-outs because he would still like to be friends with him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"It's official. I'm completely into Mike and Mike is completely into me." Micky happily announced as he shut the car door and face his side, where Davy was.

"Oh yeah?"

"I mean, you wouldn't know cause you were off in Peter land-" Micky waved his hand and Davy scoffed. "But, he was flirting. I think he's into this whole 'dating me' situation. He even said 'Perfect song, huh?' when a love song came on...." Micky explained, looking positively smitten. 

Davy pursed his lips and shrugged. "He did stick around for a second date...and you're pretty annoying."

Micky took his turn to scoff and whacked Davy's arm while he laughed.


	4. Four Quarters

Davy and Micky strolled beside each other in a half-assed walking pace. They'd made it about halfway to their filming location when the episode director called to let them know filming had been cancelled. On the bright side, the weather had become rather nice. The sun was shinning and the sky was a clear blue color.

"It's a nice day, innit?" Davy smiled, gesturing to the open air with a grin. He turned to Micky, who was staring at his phone as he walked which he'd been doing since they were made aware of their cancelled day. He sighed, rolling his eyes. "Ok, I'll bite. Micky, what are you doing?" 

Micky grinned and shoved his phone into his back pocket. "I'm gonna run errands with Mike." He looked smug as he spoke. Davy shrugged, turning his head back to face forward and narrowing his eyes at the sunshine.

"Running errands? Kinda domestic, don't you think?" Davy asked, a hint of a grin. He was a good friend after all, he was glad things seemed to be picking up for Micky and this guy. 

Micky hadn't been able to freely use his time for the past month, what with filming and all. "Yeah! Running errands together..." Micky repeated himself and looked off towards the sun. "Cool." He shook his head with a grin and Davy raised an eyebrow.

Davy, who was no stranger to being overly cheesy in relationships, became quite smug himself. "Wow Micky, you've always been quite transparent but this..." He laughed and Micky turned to glare at him.

"Shut-up." He shook his head before turning back almost instantly. "Wait, what do you mean?" He bit into his lip as he continued to walk without really paying attention. 

Davy expected that. He chuckled and looked at Micky with amusement. "Well, I just mean, you are so smitten...like a kid with a crush." Davy giggled again and Micky frowned.

"And what about you? You and Peter sure are hung up on each other." Micky smirked and Davy rolled his eyes. 

"That...is beside the point." Davy tilted his chin and clicked his tongue before speeding off in a faster walk, Micky threw his head back in laughter and went after him. His stomach burned with joy. 'Mike was comfortable enough to run errands with him'. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mike shoved his phone into his back pocket as he stood up from the carpet and wiped a hand down his unshaven face. Peter glanced at him from the corner of his eye and threw another chip into his mouth. "Hey, where you headin'?"

Mike moved around their small dorm, picking up a few things and putting others away. "Was just thinking about going to the bookstore and maybe get a few things from the store. You need anything?" He asked, leaning his back on their drawer.

Peter opened his mouth after a small grin and Mike didn't have to wait to hear the answer he was going to get. He held his hand out. "I'm not buying anymore incense. Pete, you have a problem."

Peter chuckled and sat back in his relaxed position from before. "Worth a shot." He bounced his foot up and down as he lounged. "Have fun-"

Peter was interrupted with the sound of Mike's phone buzzing. He paused, as his friend slipped it out and read what popped up. Without saying anything more, he set it behind him on the drawer. Peter waited for some sort of explanation but got nothing.

"How come you don't just share things with me?" Peter shook his head and stood, strolling over and swiping the phone. Mike glared at him but didn't do that much to stop him. 

Peter read the notification, a text from Micky.

'Hey, Mike! Filming was cancelled today & I was thinking we could do something while we have the chance?'

"Ooh, Davy's gotta be free then too." Peter grinned and Mike swiped his phone back. He swiped it for a few seconds before hoovering his thumb over the text screen. 

'I was actually just gonna run some errands today, if you wanna come? That is if you're ok with spending a boring day with me?'

"I think Micky might be tagging along." Mike said nonchalantly as he put his shoes on and got ready to go. Peter grinned. 

"Well, while you and your friend hang out, I will be getting some." Peter smirked, pulling out his own phone to text Davy. Mike made a disgusted face, sticking his tongue out for a few seconds while Peter grinned. 

"I don't wanna hear about that, Peter." Mike shook his head and grabbed his keys. "You and Davy really hit it off though, huh?" Mike asked, a hint of bitterness in his tone that he hoped Peter wouldn't pick up on. 

"Yeah." Peter's face shined with that smile of his. 

Mike turned to his phone as it vibrated again, a frown on his face.

'Do you really expect it to be boring with me there?? :)'

Mike chuckled as Peter went back to sitting on the edge of his bed. 'Is that a yes?' he typed back.

'Yes it is! You can come get me at my dorm!' 

Mike fought his urge to grin wider, not wanting Peter to make any comments. He had been sort of glad Micky had been quite busy for the last month. It gave him time to ease into the friendship. While he preferred face to face talking in general, texting with Micky had eased them into having a little back and forth chemistry.

Mike threw Peter another look and waited for him to feel his eyes and look up. He gave him a silent wave which Peter returned with a grin. Mike then closed the door and went on his way.

It didn't take Mike long after leaving his room to remember that he had a problem if he was going to get Micky. He sighed, pulling his phone from his pocket again.

"Micky, I forgot to ask, where's your dorm?" Mike asked as soon as Micky picked up his phone. Micky had told him on their first hang-out that he went to the same college but he'd never actually said where he lived. 

Micky laughed on the other end and gave him his dorm number. They didn't hang up after, they just kept talking.

"So what kind of errands are you planning on-?" Micky paused as he heard a knock behind him. "Hang on, I gotta answer the door." 

Mike rolled his eyes as he stood behind the door, phone under his chin as Micky whipped the door open.

"Hey, It's you...and a beard!" Micky grinned, still speaking into the phone and observing Mike's beard. 

Mike pulled his phone down and hung up before stuffing it into his pocket, Micky copied the action. Mike gave him a small grin which Micky returned as he stepped into the hall, closing the door behind him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey, you aren't bored are you?" Mike looked over his shoulder to Micky, who was nose deep in some science fiction paperback he'd picked up some shelves ago. Mike had come right for the music section of the bookstore and sat cross-legged on the old, patchy-colored, static carpet. 

"How could I be? The planet's about to explode." Micky responded rather quickly, eyes flickering up from the book he was now waving with a mischievous glint. 

"I'm serious man, cause if you are-" 

"You'll entertain me? That's great cause there's a stage back there in the kids section." Micky stuck his thumb over his shoulder with a playful smile on his face as he wiggled his feet that were in the tingly state of numb. Mike rolled his eyes but chuckled. "I'm not bored." Micky shrugged. "In fact, I think this is really fun." He grinned, waving his book again. 

"Ok, you pushed it". Mike laughed, shaking a pointed finger at the other man. "I would have believed you too." 

Micky scoffed in mock defense, putting his hand to his chest. "You don't think I'm having fun watching you stare at books?" Micky smirked and Mike made a show of closing his book and standing up. Micky felt a little bit guilty at the action, he stood and followed after him.

"Hey, I was only teasing Mike. If you wanna look at the books, I don't care, It's not boring, really-" Micky paused as he got to Mike's pace and up to his side. "What are you doing?"

Mike turned to Micky, still walking. "I'm gonna buy you a coffee for a little break, then I'm gonna show you how boring I can really be, man. 'Cause really that wasn't anything, Mick." Mike spoke flatly like he was serious but with a smirk pulling at his lips. "Just you wait."

Micky tilted his chin down, shoulders falling into a slight hunch as he chuckled, nose crinkling. "Right well..." Micky gave Mike a look, smiling once they made eye contact. "I'm looking forward to it."

They strolled over to the coffee area and ordered, Mike paid for both of them almost instinctively. And they sat down by the large window of the building, looking down at the parking lot.

"Now, You might think I forgot but, I really wanna hear this 'getting kicked out of Denny's' story." Mike scooted his chair in and raised his brows, giving Micky the floor to tell him. 

Micky looked out the window for a second with a grin, a little giddy that Mike remembered that from their first date. "Well, it was after that party I told you about and Davy and I were really excited." Micky scooted closer and gestured. "And maybe we were being a little loud...did I mention it's two am?" Micky tilted his head, cheekily.

Mike rolled his eyes with a smile and leaned back in his seat. He listened with amusement as Micky unfolded the rest of the story, his almond shaped eyes lighting up as he gestured with his hands.

-"And so, we went to iHop instead." Micky rubbed his hand over his smile before running it in a trail up to his hairline and weaving his fingers gently throughout the brown waves.

With that story wrapped up & gone, so was their coffee. Neither realized just how much time had passed, it felt like just a few minutes. "So, where to now, Mr. Boring?" Micky tapped his fingers against his chin.

Mike stood up and shrugged before shoving his hands into his pockets. "I gotta pick up a few things from the store." All teasing aside, Mike was gonna give Micky an out to take if he really wanted it, which he suspected he might. "I could drop you back at your dorm if you want?"

Micky took the absolute last sip that he could manage from his drink and shook his head. "No, I'm having fun." Micky grinned and stood, already walking towards the escalators. Mike watched him go for a few seconds before following.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Here, I'll push the cart for you." Micky swooped in just as Mike went to grab himself a cart when they entered the store. Mike grinned to himself and walked up to keep pace with Micky, who was leaning on the cart and strolling along. 

The two strolled along aimlessly as the florescent lights flickered above them and what sounded like elevator music played from the speakers. Occasionally Mike would pick something up and toss it into the cart. Micky was momentarily gazing at the shelf of paper towels and found his way to the 'Brawny' guy when Mike set something in the cart that made Micky giggle.

"What?" Mike glanced over, feeling a little self-conscious but Micky shook his head. 

"Nothing...it's just I didn't picture you to use 'Snuggles' fabric softener. Micky stopped pushing the cart and picked up the bottle from the basket. Mike immediately stole it right back. 

"Shut up." He rolled his eyes and put it back but with a tiny grin on his face. Micky bit into his lip. "Ain't nothing wrong with it." Mike shook his head and went on. 

Micky rolled the cart over to catch up with him, hopping onto it as he glided and kicked his legs back down as soon as he got to Mike's side again, skidding to a stop. "Don't hurt yourself now." Mike clasped his hand onto the side of the cart.

"No, you don't understand, I'm a pro at this." Micky wiggled the cart with a smirk on his face. 

"Are you now?" Mike raised his brow. 

"My sister Coco and I would race each other with those little kid carts when we went grocery shopping with our parents." Micky leaned down on the handle and smiled at the memory that zoomed back into his mind just as fast as he would zoom across the store. "Didn't you ever do anything like that as a kid?" Micky asked as he leaned onto the cart handle.

Mike shrugged. "Nothing quite as reckless as you-" Mike chuckled as Micky rolled the wheels of the cart slightly on the shiny floor tiles. "But um, my mom would get me a super-ball from one of those machines to bounce around while she took me shopping." Mike turned to pick something from the shelf as Micky grinned.

"Do you have any quarters?" Micky asked with a smile and Mike rolled his eyes. 

"No." 

"Are you lying?" Micky reached out to poke his shoulder and Mike smacked his hand away. 

"I ain't-" 

"C'mon Mike, relive your childhood" Micky continued to smirk at the man and Mike just kept on rolling his eyes. 

"Miiiiike it's just four quarters!"

"I ain't gettin' a useless super-ball to bounce around the store like some kid-" 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I hate you." Mike said unconvincingly as he had a smirk, that was threatening to turn into a full blown grin, on this face. He and Micky had successfully gathered everything he needed from the grocery store. He drove them back and walked with Micky to his dorm, only to have Micky smoothly reach into one of the cheap plastic bags and pull out a shiny Super-ball. 

"But do you really?" Micky grinned, dropping the ball to the carpeted floor. It bounced perfectly and he caught it with an ease of grace before holding it out for Mike. 

"When did you even get it?" Mike wondered out loud, still not reaching out for it. 

"When I said I was going to the bathroom." Micky shrugged and waited a few more seconds before grabbing Mike's hand and setting it on his palm, closing his fingers over it. "You have fun with that." He pat his hand before letting his arm swing back to his side. 

"I've got a paper I should probably get done before I have to shoot for the show again but I had fun. I'll see you next time." Micky grinned and waited just a few seconds to see if maybe Mike might make a move but Mike just grinned with a shake of his head. 

"I'll see ya next time, Mick." Mike chuckled and took a few of his bags from Micky's hand and was off. Micky watched him go with a little frown on his face as he wondered momentarily when Mike was going to make a move. Maybe he was still too shy to do it on a third date? 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mike strolled on back to his dorm, bouncing the super-ball carefully as he went. The little stars of different colors inside it glittered against the lights above his head. He couldn't help but smile as it did remind him of being a child again.

He bit his lip and tried not to think too much about Micky. If Micky knew how Mike thought of him, he'd probably stop hanging out with him.

He bounced the ball one final time and caught it swiftly before unlocking his door and entering, careful not to drop any bags. Peter was sat on his bed with his laptop in his lap. He looked up as Mike entered and shot him a smile. "You and Davy hang out today?" Mike asked, remembering their conversation from earlier in the day. Peter brightened.

"Yeah, he came over while you were gone. We watched 'Friends'...and made out a little." Peter smirked, looking rather delighted. Mike groaned and threw one of the bags at his friend. 

Peter did not seem very offended at that. He just dug right into the bag, finding the box of incense sticks Mike had bought for him. He slid them right out took a deep breath. "Thanks, man." Peter held out the bag for Mike to take back.

"That's the last time I'm buying it for you, Pete." Mike said sternly though Peter knew he'd give in sooner or later. So he just smiled and nodded. 

"How was your day?" Peter asked, genuinely curious. 

Mike played around with the super-ball in his pocket and got the hint of a smile on his face again. "Pretty good."


End file.
